Lord Foster Receives Order of Merit

On 18 January 2010, British star architect Lord Foster was awarded the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Issued to him in London by the German Ambassador Georg Boomgaarden, the Order of Merit was given to him for his outstanding achievements in architecture in Germany and around the world.

Boomgaarden emphasised Lord Foster’s significance for the architecture of many German cities. His elegant and sophisticated designs have sustainably shaped the face of urban landscapes in Germany. Particularly impressive were, according to Boomgaarden, the achieved balance between preserving the old and creating the new.

Lord Foster, one of the world’s leading architects, is known above all for the conversion of Germany’s Federal Parliament, the Reichstag in Berlin, including the famous glass cupola that attracts immense numbers of visitors.
Further important projects in Germany are the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt/Main, the Philological Library of the Free University Berlin, the new central station in Dresden, and the inland harbour of Duisburg. Last but not least, he also designed the red dot design museum in Essen: In 1996, Foster converted the boiler house of a former coal mine in Essen, the Zeche Zollverein, into the new home and exhibition space of the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, thereby making the boiler house into an inspiring exhibition space and event forum. The new architecture made of glass and concrete blends inconspicuously into the old structure made of glass, red steel lattice formwork, and brick. The red dot design museum thus offers a breathtaking backdrop for contemporary industrial products. The former industrial work space of no more than three men per shift, is today visited by over 140,000 people per year who come to learn about the present and future of design.

For more information about the red dot design museum, please click here.